Tuesday, March 11, 2008

After reading this comment from Inga, I realized I hadn't posted an update on our cat, Loco.

Hi.

This may be a bit strange, but I found your blog about your cat, Loco, when he was sick. I was googling "cat can't lift head" because that's the thing with my cat right now :-/ I took her to the vet today, but the vet didn't know what was wrong with her. Right now she's mostly just lying still because her chin is just like it "stuck" to her chest. It's like there is a spring holding her head down like that.

I wanted to ask you if your cat got better? I can't find any follow-up posts about him. My cat is alot younger though, she's only 3 and a half years old.

I'm taking her to the vet again tomorrow morning for a blood analysis, but today the vet vas totally clueless on what might be her problem. She can't eat or drink by herself now, because her head is stuck down like this.

Please reply, I would very very much appreciate if you'd reply to me, either here or by e-mail, ingaebba at gmail.comn

I sincerely hope that your Loco has gotten better by now.

Best regards, Inga.

This was my reply to Inga:

Hi, Inga. It's Shelley from Shelley's Snippets. I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. How long has she not been able to lift her head up? Loco wasn't able to lift his head for what seemed like a couple of weeks - probably wasn't quite that long. He didn't eat for a few days - wouldn't drink either. I would have to physically pick him up and put him in the litter box. He is 100% better now - back to his old self again.

It turned out that Loco's ear drum had ruptured. I am inclined to think that his ruptured ear drum was the sole cause of all his problems. I think his low kidney function count (sorry don't know the correct medical terminology) and his electrolytes being low were all due to him not eating because he could not lift his head because the ear drum was getting ready to rupture. After paying $400 for three different kinds of meds and tests out the wazoo, I think what made him better was an extra $8 worth of steroids that I had to give him orally.

Have your vet check your cat's ears thoroughly. I only say that because the first trip to the vet, his ear drum had not ruptured yet. It actually ruptured the next day while we were at home. It wasn't until the second trip to the vet to recheck his electrolytes that they discovered his ruptured ear drum and the vet said she checked his ears on the first visit and it wasn't ruptured at that time.

Good luck to you and your kitty cat. And please, please let me know what happens at the vet tomorrow.

Thanks for the comment,Shelley

I've noticed that quite a few people have ended up on my blog after doing a search for "cat can't lift head", so that's the main reason why I'm posting this update. When Loco couldn't lift his head up, I searched high and low on the Internet and could not find anything about it. Hope this helps someone.

6 comments:

Ingibjörg
said...

Hi, and thanks a lot for your reply. It's very good to hear that Loco is back to his old self now.

I only noticed my cat acting strangely this morning, when she fell to the floor when trying to jup up to the sink where she likes to drink, so she's only been like this for 14-18 hours (at least as far as I know).

She's been lying on the sofa all day/night since we came home. She can't eat or drink by herself, so I had to finger-feed her chicken and give her water by letting her drink from a syrengine.

She seems to be getting weaker, and when I put her in the litter box, she just lay down. On second try, she peed a little, but I was kind of hoping for something more. Then she just lay down again :(

I doubt there will be much sleep here tonight, because we are kind of just waiting for the clock to turn 8:00 am (that's when the vet opens) and it's 1:10 am here now (Iceland). I'm too worried about her to be able to go to sleep.

I even sent my boyfriend to the pharmacy to buy an electric heating pillow for her to lie on, because she feels so cold (the vet took her temperature today and she was a bit below normal).

I hope the vet will see what's wrong with her tomorrow. I can't stand watching my darling kitty like this.

Thanks again for the reply, I'll ask the vet to check her ears very well.

Loco's temperature was below normal too. He did not move from one spot for over 15 hours. I mean, literally never moved. Your cat and my cat's symptoms are so much alike, I just hope the fix is as simple as Loco's was. Try to get some sleep and be sure and remember to tell you vet to thoroughly check her ears. Loco started actually holding his head down and to the right, which it was the right ear drum that ruptured. Let me know what happens.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be the same with my kitty as yours, although the symptoms sound much alike :( her blood tests came out really really bad. It seems to be that her kidneys are failing and she has something in her blood (creatine I think, can't remember what the vet said exactly) and that only appears in the blood if the kidneys have shut down to 25% functionality.

The vet gave her some steroids, anti biotics and fluid under her skin.

The odds aren't good at the moment :( But I will try everything I can to get her better.

The vet said that it is very likely that she has always had somewhat of a kidney problem, she has just never gotten sick from it before. Her pupils are also very dialated and react slowly to light, so that's a sign of some toxic effect.

Sorry about my ranting on. Still thanks alot for your replys, even though unfortunately my cat isn't suffering from the same thing as yours was.

My kitty could really use some good thoughts right now. Her sister is very scared too, she's hiding inside the closet. I think she senses that something is wrong because she doesn't even want to come out to say hi to us.

Inga, Loco's vet told me the exact same thing that they told you - that Loco's kidney's were almost in kidney failure. I had to give him potassium, antiobiotic and some kind of stomach medicine (so he wouldn't throw up) to help correct that. It wasn't until the next day when his ear drum ruptured and then they prescribed the steroid. I think his tests came out like they did because he hadn't eaten in a couple of days due to his bulging ear drum. If I were you, I'd call your vet and ask them if your cat should be taking potassium and maybe an antibiotic and could they prescribe some for your kitty. Please remember that I'm not a vet, or anything even close to that. Let me know what happens.

My cat came up the steps with head hanging a few days ago. She could not lift it up. She's 16. I googled cat can't lift head & found that she may be low on potassium or thiamine (more likely potassium.)These conditions can be fatal. Cannot afford vet. I switched back to 'Blue Buffalo' can cat food which is an excellent food for an ailing cat. Also gave her potassium (a chart is online with brands & the amount to give or that is usually given. My cat is small so I gave the least dose. Also gave her milk cause it has potassium. The 'Blue Buffalo' food alone has brought her back from the brink before. She's getting potassium now in the food (wasn't eating before but when I gave her 'Blue' again she has been devouring it.) She was definitely low on probably a lot of stuff but now has seemingly recovered. Not sure how long to continue potassium supplement though. Don't want her to get too much-that can be bad also.

So glad to hear your cat is doing better. We wound up spending a lot of money we didn't have on Loco and nothing worked. Wish I had known about the potassium thing back then - that might have helped him. I miss him dearly. Good luck to you and your sweet kitty kitty.